Why You Need a Canning Funnel (Even If You Don't Can)

I'm a wannabe kitchen minimalist — any tool in my kitchen must do double duty. One regular funnel has gotten me through the last 10 years, but there are at least two canning funnels in my house right now. While they were originally purchased specifically for canning, my canning funnels have become indispensable everyday tools.

Use a Canning Funnel to Fill Jars

A canning funnel makes it easy to repurpose canning jars as storage jars, even if they have a narrow opening. Well, that one seems a bit obvious, but it is not just canning or pickling jars — a canning funnel makes easy, mess-free work of pouring dry beans from their flimsy plastic package to long-term storage jars, and it keeps sugar from sprinkling here and there while refilling pantry containers.

Use a Canning Funnel to Portion Filling

Here's where a canning funnel can shine. Use a canning funnel to fill stuffed peppers or tomatoes without dropping the filling everywhere. Bring your canning funnel along with you when you make muffins or cupcakes to make tidy work of filling a muffin pan — this works especially well when you don't have a scoop to fill the pans.

Use a Canning Funnel to Pour Hot Foods

Once cooler weather hits, many people stash their canning supplies away. Not me — my canning funnel sees even more use in hot soup season. Not only do I use it weekly to fill my kids' lunch thermoses, but I also use it to get warm, splatter-prone soups into storage containers.

Use It for Getting Ingredients into Tight Spaces

While this canning funnel trick sees a lot less use in my kitchen, a canning funnel can be incredibly useful for getting ingredients into food processors (without removing the lid) or into your stand mixer. This is why I have two (one is plastic, the other aluminum) — while making buttercream or marshmallows, I wedge my aluminum canning funnel in between my stand mixer's head and the edge of the mixing bowl where it allows me to stream hot sugar syrup into the mixer while it's running. The wide opening allows food to quickly pass through, straight to its destination.